Running out of adventure games to play and I am now looking for cross genre games that may have some action elements or some RPG elements along with a heavy dose of adventure, exploration & puzzling. Preferable P&C but will look into all suggestions. Can you help this die hard P&C adventure fan? I am running out of ideas.

The Prince of Persia Sands of Time is a pretty good adventure. The combat isn;t to difficult and there is alot of exploration. There is alot of game over but will restore you fairly close to where you died or will give you second chances. There is alot of running and jumping. But fairly easy if you use a game pad. The Tomb Raider games are very good. Combat is a little more difficult but there is more exploration and puzzle solving involved. Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver 1 and 2 are both fairly easy combat alot of of exploration and puzzling. Clock Tower 3 more of a survival horror game with alot of puzzling and exploration.Rule of Rose is more horrorbut alot of exploration and puzzling ( I'm not sure if this one comes on PC or if it is playstation only) there are a few other fairly good horror adventure games but they have alot of combat. There is Resident Evil the first one. Alot of exploration and puzzling but alot of combat. Hope this helps.

Hi Hatshepsutt! I really liked the first four Tomb Raider games, especially 1 and 4. Soul Reaver is a great recommendations for GreyFuss. Really unusual and some stunning exploration. Combat's not that difficult. How about Oblivion? My son and I are playing that now. My first RPG and the adventure and exploration are jaw droppingly good. :-)

Hi Gelrt, the first four Tomb Raiders are my favorites too. I haven't played Oblivion all the way through, I've only played the demo. It is incredible and I think that might be another good choice for GreyFuss.

GreyFuss, I don't think any of them are strictly point and click, but I think you can hook up your game controller and play fairly confortably with it.

Thanks all for the suggestions but because I simply dislike any keyboard controls I am abandoning any idea of crossing into other genres. I get no enjoyment at all. But don't let this revelation kill the thread as this information could prove valuable to others searching for a change. Carry on.

You guys are going to think I'm crazy, given the difference between this recommendation and P&C adventures, but I'd suggest STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl.

This open world shooter is twitch-intensive and very difficult, but its ability to evoke a sense of place is unmatched. Plus it has an adventure-esque storyline and lots of opportunity for exploration. To my mind, adventure gamers open to trying new (and annoyingly challenging, at first) gaming experiences might find something of worth here.

RPG games like Torchlight, Titan Quest, and the Diablo series are basically point and click. You can use the 1-9 buttons to sometimes use potions and whatnot but for the most part they're mouse-only. For example I played Titan Quest and my left click was my primary attack, right click was "use health potion" and then the "1" key stunned my enemies. That was pretty much all I used for the entire game. You can also mouse-click the abilities in your bar instead of pushing the number buttons - this is true for all three games.

I don't know if it would be a game you'd enjoy, but The Sims 2 & 3 are pretty much exclusively mouse-controlled, now that I think about it. Same with Rollercoaster Tycoon type games.

Dragon Age: Origins can be played with only the mouse, if you so choose. I played primarily using the mouse. Click to move, set up my casting bar and then click on the buttons instead of pressing the corresponding numbers. I only used the space bar to pause the game when needed.

All strategy games that I have played I have used only the mouse. Company of Heroes or Civ4 are probably the best examples for real-time and turn-based, respectively.

How could I forget King's Bounty! What a game. It's a turn-based strategy action RPG. You click to move your little guy around the map, gathering your forces and completing quests and objectives to do battle with evil foes! Once in battle, it's set up like a board-game board and you move your allies around on the board and use their special abilities.

I think strategy games would be a good fit for an adventure gamer. They require planning, logic, and strategy to play, all things that adventure games also require. Turn-based strategy games allow you as much time to puzzle things out as your need. As I mentioned, they also primarily use the mouse with optional keyboard shortcuts.

I guess looking back at my gaming habits, if I can play with just the mouse I generally tend to do so. I will continue to think on this. I know there's a lot of different genres here but perhaps something will catch your eye!

Magoozelle have you played Pharaoh, Children of the Nile or any of the Civilaztion games ? I started Pharaoh and Children of tjhe Nile but didn't get very far. I've been looking at CivCity: Rome but can't decide on it. Have you played it. Can you tell me a bit more about Dragon Age : Origin.

Good call on King's Bounty, Magoozelle! Also, don't forget Heroes of Might & Magic V, a very similar game.

Hatshepsut, if you're interested in a Roman City simulation, you'd be better off with Grand Ages: Rome rather than CivCity Rome. You can also try the (old now but still excellent) Caesar III, though I'd advise against playing the fourth installment.

I'm currently playing Mass Effect 2, which is considerably more action-oriented than Dragon Age, but a lot of fun. Dragon Age is a very deep RPG that encourages a measured and considered play style, a great choice for P&C fans looking to branch out.

hatshepsut I have played Pharaoh! I love that game, but it's older and difficult to get a hold of nowadays so I left it out. Now that GOG has Activision games coming I'm hoping that Pharaoh and the expansion, Cleopatra, will pop up there. I have also played Civilization 3 and 4. I think 4 on the easier settings is easier to learn. And Leonard Nimoy voices all of the narrator bits.

What would you like to know about Dragon Age? Some may say the story is a bit cliched, but I got caught up in it. You can play as a human, dwarf, or elf of various social standing depending on what you choose as your "origin" story. For a class, you choose warrior, rogue, or mage. From there you will unlock specializations for your class as you play through the game. It's a rousing adventure to save your homeland; along the way you will meet elves, dwarves, humans and try to convince them to join you in fighting the Arch Demon. Who knows who or what you will meet and convince to help you?

I will warn you that the game is "old school" hard. I'll admit, for my first play through I played on easy just to learn the game mechanics and enjoy the story. On my next playthrough I will play on normal. Anyhoo, the story does change based upon the decisions that you make so it lends itself to being replayed quite a few times. I finished my first play through in 39 hours, 50 minutes, so it's a fairly long game as well.

The interface looks like this:

I shrunk the image from its original size so it would fit, but basically you control one of the four members in your party (you can have up to 10 party members in your camp but you always choose three to go with your main character out adventuring). To change who you control you just click on their portrait. I drag and dropped my abilites and spells from my spell book onto the bottom left bar, and the I clicked them to use them. You can also use the 1-9 keys. You can set up tactics for all of your party members. Tactics are things like "When Alistair's health drops below 50%, he will use the least powerful healing potion to heal himself" or "When the main character gets attacked, Alistair will run over and taunt the creature away."

Dragon Age regularly goes on sale on GoGamer.com and Amazon. I got it for 25% off in late November, so I imagine you could find it for even cheaper now.

If there is anything else you want to know, I would be happy to answer to the best of my ability. Now, I'm off to play more Machinarium!

Steerpike thanks for the tip about Grand Ages: Rome and Ceasar III. And thanks for the tip about the fourth installment, I had been considering it. I'll look around and see if I can find a copy of Grand Ages: Rome.

Magoozelle thanks for the info on Dragon Origin it sounds good. I hope that GOG gets Pharaoh and Cleopatra. I have Pharaoh but I no longer have my copy of Cleopatra.

hatshepsut

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Subject: Re: Suggestions for Cross Genre Games for the P&C Adventure Fan